Looking for Free Printables? Have you heard about the site Free Printable Online?

Free Printables and Coloring Sheets? Yes, please!

Oh, how we love free things to print out. I know you do too. You must meet, Jenny at Free Printable Online. Jenny knows free printables. If you're looking for games and activities for kids, you'll find coloring pages and worksheets perfect for homeschool and preschool lessons. There are coupons and clipart to print out too.

Customizable Christmas Tree Card from Free Printable Online.

You can customize Christmas and holiday cards and invitations right on the website.  In the printable craft category, you can print tons of cute origami activities. There's even a section dedicated to music with sheet music you can print out to play the piano.

Here's a sample preschool worksheet printable.

The site is super easy to navigate. Printable categories are clearly listed in the sidebar including: invitations, cards, worksheets, lessons, calendars, coupons, calendars, music, games, crafts, activities, and quotes and sayings. There's even a category listing the most recent printables added to the site.

We printed templates from Free Printable Online for a paper craft.

The kids and I printed out the printable activity templates and made paper silhouette art with the animal templates. We cut out the animal templates, traced them onto colored construction paper, and pasted them onto our background. Mayhem loved customizing the animal templates, so  the mouse was scaled for the cat.

Mayhem made a catosaur and mouseosaurus with the free printable templates.

Tag, you're it! Hop over and create something wonderful with your little ones. It makes preschool paper projects easy. There is so much to print out!  You might also like are Free Printables and Coloring Pages page.

Coloring Book Pages for Teen Girls: Teenagers

Coloring Pages for Boys and Teens: An Expert Level Coloring Book

Recommended Reading:

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How to Enter Indiana State Fair: County 4 H Fair

What to Know for 4 H Club 

How do I enter the Indiana State Fair? Want to know, we've got answers and all details of what to expect during your first year of 4 H. Enjoy!

Rehoming Pets after a Life Change

Moving? Will you Find Your Pet a New Home?

If you're planning a move (we are) what to do with your pets after a life change may be an issue. It's a tough decision. Having recently moved, it was important to find a good home for all of our pets. And, when I say 'all' I mean we needed to find a home for a wide variety of animals, both indoors and outdoors. Now, we're about to do it again. This time, I'm considering rehoming some of our outdoor pets. It's a difficult decision.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links If you click, I may get a commission.
(*Nakturnal Partner)

Over the years, we have adopted many pets from friends and family. No matter, where you get your pet, it's always a labor of love. The best pets come from loving homes. Take Buddie, for example, she has seizures. We can't pinpoint the cause. It's been suggested we put her down, but she's otherwise a happy, little kitty. She has many triggers and as long as we keep the triggers in check we can reduce the amount of seizures she has each week. Often, the seizures are daily! This is due to food, fleas, flea sprays, and other things that seem to be allergens. Right now, Buddy is doing great! I found a cat food that seems to work. It's a little pricey for my liking, but far better than the alternatives. I also found a pet safe candle that helps remove any pet odors. You know, we've got those! Cleaning up after Buddie is a full time job.

Then, there's Tigger! What a character. He's about twelve. We found him on Craigslist. I don't recommend finding a pet to adopt that way, but we also got ducks and chickens from Craigslist. Tigger often stars in our blog and social media posts. I've shared some links so you can learn more about him!

• Tigger in a Chef Hat
• Tigger's Dinner Time
• Cats at a Sleepover

At nineteen, my Cockatiel, Nebu, is my oldest pet friend! I got him from a pet store when he was just an egg! Of course, I didn't take the egg home. The pet store hatched him out and raised him for the first 9 weeks then I brought him home! He can get noisy, but for the most part, he's a pet that can move anywhere and, boy oh boy, have the two of us lived in lots of different places! Where I go, he goes. Sometimes, even on vacations!

Also, there's a turtle. Several years ago, I was mowing the lawn and ran over her shell. I brought her in the house for rehabilitation. They tell me, she can't be released into the wild. She'd never survive and probably spread disease. Not to mention the fact that, turtles are homing devices. She might spend years trying to work her way back to her original home. I'd like to find a permanent home for her, like a sanctuary or zoo or something. Rehoming her with a friend (someone I trust) would be a great option.

But wait, there's more. We have chickens and a duck too. In the past, we had more turtles, more cats, more ducks, and way more chickens! A move wouldn't have been possible. But now, we're down to two chickens and a duck. I've shared some links about our journey below.

• Chickens
• Ducks
• Cats

Our new neighbor loves animals. I'm considering leaving them with him. It's a tough decision though. But, we are embarking on a new path in life.The kids want to try public school next year! I ask every year, this year they both said yes!! Ugh. Difficult decision for me. We just bought a house. But we've decided to move back to my hometown where we'll be surrounded by friends and family. The kids will go to school with their cousins. We want to make the transition as easy as possible for all. Since money is a factor, finding trusted new homes for some of our beloved pets seems like the best option.

Have you ever rehomed a pet? Let's be clear, the pound is not an option. I never understand how anyone can do that to a family member. Sure, if they're lucky someone else will adopt them, but the odds aren't good. Even a no kill shelter isn't great. They'll have abandonment issues. I feel like we're family for life, but sometimes, you have to make tough decisions. Any advice?

Recommended:


More posts about CATS

Turtle Books for Kids

Ways to Calm Cats

How to Care for a New Pet

Great Read for eReaders: Alicewinks eBook is a modern update to Alice in Wonderland. apps

Did you know it is the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland, the legendary Lewis Carroll children's novel? 

Looking for ebook recommendations for kids? In celebration, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is now a multimedia iBook. Alicewinks brings the timeless illustrations of Alice’s Adventures to life for a new generation. Take a look and check out this interactive media book in iBooks.

Alice Winks is a great ebook recommendation for kids.

The beautiful, early 20th-century pictures include one-hundred and ninety-three original, animated illustrations from twelve different artists, and the images are brought to life by nineteen voice actors. It is more like watching a movie than reading an ebook.

What we love about the book:

• Cultural Immersion. My kids associate Johnny Depp with Alice and Wonderland. While, they love the Cheshire Cat, they thought he was the "Thresher Cat".  With Alicewinks, they learn about classical literature in it's purist form.
• The voice of Alice brings the story to life. Hearing the inflection as she speaks makes some of the subtle humor easier for kids to understand.
• The story is long, but reading the iBook version allows you to pause whenever you like.
•  In May of 2013, Alicewinks received the Kirkus Star for exceptional merit.
• The book is interactive. Kids can easily skip forwarded and back among the pages.
• When I asked the kids if they wanted to skip ahead, they both shouted "no".  Translation = 1-hour of peace and quiet.

"Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it." 

- The Duchess.  

So, what is the moral to this post?  "One story is good until another is told."  The re-telling of Alice in Wonderland in digital format is a great way to share a good, classical story with your kids.

In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland, Alicewinks brings the story’s classic illustrations to life for digital audiences through animated video and rich narration. To download this one of a kind app iBook, click here.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Alicewinks. The opinions and text are all mine.

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ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Big Red Barn Coloring Sheet and Creative Country Sayings: Farm Edition

Don't you love Margaret Wise Brown Books? One of my favorites is "The Big Red Barn" about animal life on the farm. 

Here's a free printable coloring sheet and some cute country sayings from down on the farm.

Cow coloring page to use with Big Red Barn activity.
Click here for Printable Cow Barn Farm Coloring Sheet: 
"Moo to you!"

Make this easy Big Red Barn Farm Craft 
from an envelope and cardboard tube.

Creative Country Sayings and Farmer Quotes:

What happens in the barn stays in the barn!

Well that just dills my pickle.

What part of moo don't you understand?

Don't go digging for water under the outhouse.

She's so tall if she fell down she'd be halfway home.

How did the farmer fix his jeans? With a cabbage patch!

Knock Knock. (Who is there?) 

Interrupting cow. Knock Knock. 

(Who is-) 

Moo!

He's as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Well butter my behind and call me a biscuit!

They are off like a herd of turtles.

It's slicker than snot out there.

Well slap my head and call me silly!

Recommended Reading:

Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm Children's Book

Pete the Cat: Old MacDonald Had a Farm Book for Kids

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Make Pipe cleaner Sparkly Spirals for your Christmas Tree: Fun for preschoolers

Everyone can make these fun, easy pipe cleaner spiral ornaments for your tree even preschoolers! 

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS all around our house! There's a tree in the Liv-ing room... A Santa on the mantle... And the Snow is expected very soon. So, we made Christmas Tree Ornaments from Pipecleaners. Enjoy!

Easy pipecleaner craft - make holiday decorations.

I have a gorgeous 9' Tree that I bought one-hundred years ago when I was much younger and less wiser :-) Last year, it ended up on the floor several times due to toddlers or my blind cat who likes to climb it. This year we bought a Wal-mart Special. My grandmother always had a white tree. I remember thinking (even back then) maybe its a bit tacky.

Yesterday's tacky is today's classy?
Well, maybe not...
But I miss my grandma and her Tacky Tree.

White Christmas Tree with Lights.

I like it, I really like it! The kids love it. The downfall is lights are on green strands that scream out 'ugly' to me. I am sure I will spend the next few days trying to camouflage them as I discreetly re-hang the ornaments that the kid's spent the afternoon happily placing on the bottom of the tree.

It is very endearing with my Sesame Street Carolers hanging from the lower branches as it sits on a table in hope to avoid the blind cat. The new kitten isn't as easily fooled. He keeps batting a Big Bird. We suspect he might have sprayed it too.  I'm glad he approves.

So, you ask, what's the craft, lady? It is unbelievably SIMPLE. On my last trip  to the Dollar store to purchase UNBREAKABLE ornaments, I found sparkly, green pipe cleaners.

I speculated braiding them into mini-wreaths or garlands. The sparkly green looks nice with the white tree. After we put the tree up those green wires me. I contemplated covering them with garland or ribbons while I distractedly wrapped a pipe cleaner around my finger. Of course, you can wrap them around a pencil too.

Wrap a pipe cleaner around your finger to make a spiral.

My son wanted the cool, slinky-like spiral. So, I bent one end into a hanger shape and he placed them on the tree-  faster than I could make them.

Pipe Cleaner Christmas Ornament Spirals.

They don't break! If Mr. Tigger bats them down, c'est la vie, they probably cost a penny a piece. The perfect, artsy-adornment for my tacky tree... Tacky Ornaments. Cute! Fun! Spirals!

My favorite art form - perhaps even my trademark. Choose lots of primary colors for green trees.

Recommended Reading:

Christmas Ornaments Stained Glass Coloring Book (Dover Stained Glass Coloring Book)*

Christmas Games

Things to Make and Do for Christmas (Usborne Activities)*









ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Winter craft ideas for Kids: How to Make Snow for Pretend Sensory Play in Ice Age and Christmas Village

Make Fake Snow with Wax Paper

This winter craft idea for kids focuses on how to make snow for your Ice Age Dinosaurs. In this DIY, you'll use wax paper. Enjoy!

Ice Age creative play with Dinosaurs, Diego, and
wax paper snow activity for kids.

We've shared many sensory activities for kids, but this winter one is the cat's meow! So, I've been saving a a bag of snow since my Grandmother passed away.  I inherited it with a few pieces of her snow village.  A few years ago, I used store bought snow for my village, as I wasn't ready to use hers or risk losing it around the cats and little ones. This year, I pulled it out and dumped it around my village.  It was as remarkable as I remembered. Enjoy!

 Winter Preschool Activity

And then, it wasn't... 

The cat kept climbing in it spreading it all over the floor. During the holidays, I brushed it under the table to clean up later. Later came, I began carefully picking up the pieces preparing to place them in a baggie for next year, when somehow the glistening bits of fake snow appeared more familiar than I'd ever known. This wasn't fake snow at all.  It was tiny pieces of shredded wax paper!  I made a collage with snowy scenes around my house so you can see how natural it looks.

Make Fake Snow out of Wax Paper.

Ice Age Dinosaurs, Sensory Snow Play.

Grandma's fake wax paper snow village versus real snow
covered pine trees in the landscape.

Sneaky Grandma, surprising me from the grave. I hadn't realized she was so creative. One year, on my parents twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she volunteered to get SILVER vases for the table centerpieces.  She brought them just before the guests arrived, and I was astonished to see plastic glasses of some sort wrapped in aluminium foil. Not her crafty-ist moment. It felt a little tacky for what I had planned, but certainly creative. 

And now, the snow.

What an easy project for your snow globes, snowman in a jar, I -spy Christmas ornaments, or just for an ordinary day of creative play with plastic animals or Legos.  We decided to play Ice Age with ours.  I'll save Grandmas, just thinking how she took the time to craft it makes me smile.

So, grab your wax paper.  Do not cut it. Tear it into tiny shreds and store in a Ziploc bag for your kiddos. So easy, so fun and perfect for SENSORY PLAY!  Thanks, Grandma!

What will you pretend?


Recommended Reading:

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books)*

Dinosaurs! by Gail Gibbons*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

7 Unique Egg Carton Craft Ideas: Not just for Easter

These 7 Egg Carton Crafts aren't just for Easter!  

These Unique Craft Ideas with Egg Cartons make Great Pinterest pins and will keep the kids busy too.

Easter is coming and we expect you will have lots of extra egg cartons to recycle. We won't! We have ducks and chickens and we are always in need of new egg cartons. I decided to spare just one and make some fun preschool Easter crafts with egg cartons. I also took a tour around the Kid Blogger Network and Pinterest and found a few more things to do with egg cartons.  Enjoy!

• Red Ted Art is my favorite blog! Maggy is a creative genius. I highly recommend her post about How to Make Fairy Blossom Lights from Egg Cartons.

Egg Carton Fairy Lights from Red Ted Art blog.

These egg carton crafts can be made year round to help recycle all those pesky cartons. They just beg to be used up, just like the drink carriers at fast food restaurants.

• This one is perfect for anytime, but EXCELLENT for Halloween. Mayhem will adore this one. We made a bunny (see below), sure, he's cute, but we didn't think very far outside the box. You can find this little egg carton kitty over at Storknet.com.

Egg carton craft for Halloween.

• Are you looking for a truly unique, Easter art project for your classroom? This one from Unicorn Hat Party blog artsy enough for older elementary school kids and easy enough for preschoolers.

Egg Carton Art Project for Kids.

• How about an Egg Carton Pirate Ship craft? This one from Craft Project Ideas blog is fairly easy, little ones might need some help, but make two and you can have a race in the bathtub! If your bathtub isn't easy to navigate a baby pool or a wallpaper tub make a perfect ocean for your creation.

Egg Carton Pirate Ship Craft for Kids from Craft Project Ideas blog.

• Here at Kids Creative Chaos, we've got some of our own egg carton crafts or things to do with egg cartons too. How about making a mini-garden for your kitchen window?

Egg carton gardening with kids.

• We also made mini-masks, maybe you could try it on your cat like we did with our mini-chef hat? Perhaps, you could tape it to a popsicle stick or wooden craft stick and call it a puppet, or a little mask for your face?

Egg Carton Mask - just add a craft stick.

• Then we made cute bunnies from egg cartons. They aren't very original (though I thought they were when I started making them), but they are an easy, cute Easter craft to make with preschoolers.

Egg Carton Bunny Craft for Kids.

Egg Carton Bunny back, we used scraps, but you could add a cottonball tail.

Mayhem's egg carton "Rainbow" bunny. He lost an ear, poor thing.

Recommended Reading:

What Is Easter?

Make a Phineas Mask with an Egg Carton

Happy Easter, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff

Fun Things to Make at Home

Big Cats in Indiana: Exotic Feline Rescue Center

Things to do in Indiana: Visit the Big Cats at the EFRC

Are there big cats in Indiana? You bet! If you love animals, especially cats, you must visit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in southern Indiana. It's not a zoo, there's no real parking, and it's in the middle of nowhere. No worries, they want you to come visit the amazing Indiana cats. This is a wonderful idea for a field trip or a one tank trip on a weekend get away.

This post contains affiliate links.

What will you see there? Sure, there are native cats like the Bob Cat, but you'll also see Mountain Lions, Serval Cats, Leopards, Jaguars, Tigers, Tigers, and more Tigers! Most of the cats were raised as pets or used in animal shows and have been rescued from very difficult situations. They are finally free and live their lives loved in as natural an environment as possible.

Each ticket purchase helps feed and house the cats. You can also make donations to the EFRC or attend any of their special events, including a summer camp for kids! They also offer an overnight camp for adults. You read that right! Stay in a cabin on site with a view of the cats and then wake up and make the rounds with the caretakers. Sign me up!!

As we toured the facility, we couldn't help but make note how if felt like Jurassic Park, right down to the dinosaur sounds (tigers talking back and forth across the center) and the atvs used for feeding. I'm guessing if a big cat escaped, there would be similar results. These cats are lovable but clearly wild animals.

The tigers like to play with the water bowls which also serve as swimming pools in hot weather.

The Exotic Feline Rescue Center is open from 10-5 daily. Rain, shine, or snow. They mentioned that the cats are especially lonely when no one visits during the winter months. So, go see some cats in the snow!


Recommended:

Field Trip Ideas: Things to do in Indiana

Tiger Books for Kids



Pin it!

Toothfairy Burglary? Includes free toothfairy and teeth clipart

Tooth fairy... the saga continues with Teeth printable.

This really happened.

A full set of teeth makes for a lonely tooth fairy.

 I think I will write a book called "The Toothfairy Sagas", it will include all the free toothfairy clipart.  I know back-story is frowned upon in the blogosphere but you need a little info.  So...

Jake lost another tooth.

Okay. So, in a past life I lived with an alcoholic. If booze came into the house it lasted less than 24 hours nevermind how much of it entered. Thank goodness the past is the past.

My S.O.and I  have a liquor cabinet above the fridge and another above the microwave.  We have lots of liquor.  His Dad sends us various things from various countries that he visits and we purchase rum, vodka, even whiskey to make mixed drinks for New Year's Eve or other celebrations. We have liquor as old as our oldest child who is twenty-two. The cabinet has survived two teenagers without a locked door.  Needless to say... we don't really drink. I guess I should throw some of it out but that requires work.

This info may seen irrelevant, but I figure some may assume 'I got my drink on'- that would explain a lot.

Now, those of you who know us personally might become fearful as you read this, but I think I solved the mystery. So hold your breath until the end.


Wait, don't, it's kind of a long story, you might die.


THE SAGA BEGINS...

During the trip home from a holiday party last Saturday night, Jake lost another tooth. It was late. We were tired!  It was the day I took all of the kids sledding for the first time after a long day at a craft fair. When he held his tooth up in the air with a big smile- my smile turned upside down.

I must stay awake until he went to sleep or worse wake up in the middle of the night. Luckily, he was worn out and fell asleep quickly.

Around midnight I snuck into Daddy's wallet, snuck into Jake's room and tossed (yes, tossed) a dollar at his face quickly returning to the warm bed awaiting me.

I slept. It was to be a spectacular night for sleeping. No one would wake me up!  Everyone was so tired.

When what to my wondering ears should I hear?
But a boisterous crash at the top of the stairs and several loud bangs that brought me to fear.

Earlier in the evening I could not sleep for fear- no one had remembered to lock the front-door.

Begrudgingly, I drug myself out of bed, headed downstairs and found I was right as my feet hit the foyer floor.
I trodded back up and fell fast asleep until ...

All of a sudden I arose from my bed, threw off the blanket, slammed my feet on the floor and flew out the door. I shouted at Daddy but he did not care. "Go away, go away, I'm trying to sleep!" He began to swear.

As I approached the hall I saw the stairway gate crashed to the floor.
I shouted to Daddy, "Please wake-up! I think someones here."

He mumbled and grumbled and closed his eyes tight.
"I'm sure its the cat.  Now come back to bed it's the middle of night!"

Of course, I couldn't listen.  I must see for myself.  So, I ran to the kid's room where...

Jake had been sleeping, "Hey Mommy she came, but this time she forgot my tooth!"
"Jake did you hear that?"
"Did you try to go downstairs?"
"Hear what?  I woke up because you're yelling."
"Shoot!"  At least he didn't suspect me the tooth fairy.

I ran to my teenager's room where she lay- fast asleep.
I switched on her light, tore open her covers-
and sure enough she was sleeping, just like the others.

My mind could not rest so in a flash; I ran back downstairs.

Grabbing a roll of holiday wrap, held up like a bat-
Looking in closets, behind chairs and under couches- all I ever found was the cat.

Until...

The sliding doors in the kitchen were unlocked and slightly open!

I held my gift wrap tightly and started to shiver.
This detective work is not for those with a lily liver.
No wet footprints dirtied the floor.
No water from melted snows tickled my toes (that's right, snows).

So, still clutching my wrapping, I ran back upstairs defeated and scared.

Amidst the snoring, I quickly uncovered a rather difficult clue.
At the end of the gate was a Budweiser bottle cap in a Christmas-red hue.

Was it a drunken Christmas mouse?
No one here had any beer at the party.
We don't have any beer in the house.

My first thought was fear.
My second one anger.
Tooth Fairy is having a very bad year.

The Tooth Fairy.

Disclaimer:

Although the story is completely true after some digging I remembered a clue. All of the children claimed not to recognize said bottle cap.  "Did you find it outside playing in the snow and put it in your pocket?"  I just couldn't let it go.  "No, no, no!"

I seem to vaguely remember the littlest one collecting a cap after a late, November trike ride. It was shiny, she liked it.

Although I assumed she threw it away, I suspect said cap came here to stay.


Recommended Reading:


Toothfairy Failed

Toothfairy Failed Again

Dear Tooth Fairy*

The Night Before The Tooth Fairy (Reading Railroad)*